The National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR) will hold its 7th Biennial Conference titled Hearing Loss as a Public Health Concern from September 16th to 18th 2015, in Portland, OR. The objective of this conference is to enhance knowledge and awareness of the burden of hearing loss to the health and well-being of the aging public among audiology and public health communities, and to explore ways in which a public health approach to intervention can reduce the burden of hearing loss on society. Public health agencies and the audiology community bear a social responsibility to address hearing loss so that it can be effectively prevented and rehabilitated. This proposed cross-disciplinary meeting is needed because without awareness of the public health impacts of hearing loss, action is unlikely. We believe that interaction and collaboration between clinicians, scientists and public health professionals will help reduce the fragmentation among services and initiatives, and will yield novel ideas that would not be created in isolation. The conference organizing team is comprised of a Conference Chair, two Program Co-Chairs, and a Conference Coordinator. There will be eleven formal presentations from a public health experts, epidemiologists, physicians and auditory scientists, a poster session, and a closing panel discussion during which presenters, clinicians and scientists will discuss questions raised by the audience. This will tie together all concepts addressed over the prior two days. The anticipated audience will be auditory scientists, clinical audiologists, public health experts and epidemiologists, and graduate students. The number of conference attendees will be limited to two hundred in order to create an intimate environment that will enhance open communication. While it is typical for scientists to be involved in conferences of this type, clinicians and studets are often absent. Because we recognize the importance of having participation from students and clinicians, we will award up to five travel scholarships to students enrolled in doctoral program (Au.D. or Ph.D.) and five scholarships to practicing clinicians, with at least one scholarship being awarded to a minority applicant. The conference will be publicized though mass e-mailings and at upcoming professional meetings. Announcements will be published in audiological trade journals, in bulletins from professional societies and on the NCRAR website. The meeting will be video recorded and later broadcast via the VA Employee Education System, and DVD recordings of the meeting will be loaned on request. Based on recent Institute of Medicine, HealthyPeople.gov and World Health Organization data and publications it is clear that this meeting is timely and that it addresses the scientific need to better understand the relationships between hearing loss, morbidity and mortality so that preventive action can be taken.